"This is not just a North Carolina issue. This is now a national issue and an issue that imposes new law on every private-sector employer throughout the United States of America with over 15 employees," Gov. Pat McCrory said.

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The lawsuit comes just ahead of a federal mandate for North Carolina to abandon the law by the end of the day or risk losing millions in federal funding.

McCrory signed the bathroom bill in late March, and it's been criticized ever since. The law requires transgender persons to use public restrooms based on their sex at birth, not by the gender they identify with.